In case y'all missed it: a few days ago, on May 1st, 2026,
Minato released a new version of Magnet.
I'm already emotional enough about the fact that, seventeen years later, this producer is still active and revisited such an iconic song.
And then there's the comment section. Please, if you make one exception to the "never read the comments" rule, make it this one.
Both Japanese-speaking and English-speaking fans are sharing their reactions and their longtime attachment to the song. Some highlights of comments that were represented in both languages are:
When the song was originally released in 2009, there was a much greater sense of shame around being openly gay. A lot of people found affirmation in the notes of despair and secrecy this song back then. Now, though of course things aren't perfect, there's been so much progress. There's so much more acceptance for being gay, and there's a certain almost retrospective pride in this song being reborn in this new context.
Following from the above, a few users pointed out how the black dresses in the original 2009 illustration felt more serious and "forbidden." Meanwhile, the white dresses in the redesigned 2026 illustration feel more bright and celebratory.
A few users shared that around the time of the song's original release, they struggled with suicidal thoughts related to the shame surrounding being gay. Now they're expressing gratitude and joy that they lived to see this edition of the song--even that this song specifically helped carry them through that time.
On a more lighthearted note, there are several people (primarily English-speakers, but some making similar silly comments in Japanese) joking that "Minato invented yuri," "this feels like witnessing the Mona Lisa being painted", and "seeing other fans' comments feels like a class reunion."
It's just incredible how much one piece of art (or two or three if you count the illustrations and not just the song) can connect so many people, so deeply, from so far away, even though we know next to nothing about each other and will probably never meet beyond reading each other's internet comments.
Also, for my personal story:
When I first heard Magnet in 2012, I was a sheltered high school kid. I didn't even know gay people were real. I thought they were made up for anime. No joke. I was that sheltered.
Rediscovering this song in 2026, now that I'm openly lesbian, really puts into perspective how long and hard of a journey it's been to get to this level of self-acceptance and self-expression.
I didn't experience same-sex attraction until 2019, so it's only been seven years since my journey really started, but also... it's been seven long years of working through trauma, recontextualizing things that were taught to me wrong, or were not even presented to me as a possibility in the first place.
And by sheer coincidence, I've had a theme this year that I've decided to lean into, of "going back to my roots." Remembering the few great things about my adolescence that I can, and reclaiming or at least revisiting them.
Primarily for the sake of spreading acceptance, and secondarily for the purpose of anyone hateful to block me if they so desire:
It does not matter how you became a system, any more than it matters how you became queer.
Awareness and rights are not a pie. Another "less traumatized" system finding support and solace in the Plural community does not mean more for them and less for you.
You do not have to prove that you're "plural enough" any more that you have to prove that you're "trans enough" or "lesbian enough."
Marginalized as we are, unity, not further divisiveness, is crucial.
Seriously y'all. The queer community already had this "discourse." Not sure why the plural community is so far behind in figuring it out.
I find it so interesting (and sad!) how Rover and Galbrena just decided that Avidius "isn't real" in their eyes. He clearly had a physical body and a consciousness. But if that's not enough for them, what makes him "not real"?
Is it because he didn't have a "real" past? If memories make someone real, then by that logic, the current version of Rover isn't real either.
Is it because he's fabricated? If so, then Shorekeeper isn't real, and many of the Echoes in Rinascita and TDs aren't real.
I feel like his will and thoughts and the impact that he has on others (and the impact others have on him) makes him plenty real. We can perceive him with all our senses, and he perceives us in turn. The being known as Avidius exists; therefore, he's real, regardless of how he got there.
You could also take a Pandora Hearts spin on it and say: Okay, maybe by some definition, he's not "real." But does that make him any less worthy of love or admiration or agency? Being "fake" doesn't make one any less alive.
Crash Course on Accents in the Wuthering Waves English Dub
Because I regularly see comments about it... And there's some things about English video game dubbing that apparently aren't common knowledge, but that I really think should be before we start to criticize accents.
My hope here is to spread this information in a way that's educational and non-confrontational. I understand that people often don't intend or realize their comments about accents are xenophobic or even racist, but it is a problem that I think should be carefully considered, especially if we consider ourselves fans who value diversity and progressive ideals.
(Disclaimer: I am a white person who lives in the US and has no formal experience with voice acting. I've gathered this information from Internet research on Wuwa's English dub, being in anime fandom for a couple decades, hearing VAs talk in various formats about their experiences, and asking folks outside the US about their attitudes surrounding accents.)
Context on English Dubbing of Anime/Video Games
At least when I was growing up on anime as a teen, a significant portion of English dubs in anime and anime-adjacent video games were developed at one of two major studio hubs in the USA: Los Angeles, CA or Houston, TX respectively. I imagine the situation is similar now--there could be more remote work nowadays, but I'm not sure.
Regardless of where the voice acting is physically recorded, though, one trend remains the same throughout the decades: English dubs in these categories overwhelmingly feature a homogenized American LA accent. I've heard VAs speak anecdotally about how they have to be able to do that accent as the "default," and "turn off" any other accent they have when naturally speaking.
Any other accent is commonly taken as an intentional voice direction choice--as shorthand to mark a character who's foreign, for example, or to set the Victorian England scene in which Black Butler takes place. And from what I understand, many VAs learn accents they don't naturally speak to expand their repertoire. Which is not necessarily a fault on the VAs' part (they do what they have to do get their jobs!).
One of the problems, however, is that it does tend to set fans up for the expectation that any decipherable "accents" they hear (whether imitated or authentic) are identifiable among a set of stereotypes that we're used to so that we can decode things about the characters. Allowing VAs to talk in their native accent (assuming it's not the LA accent), especially a less "identifiable" one, is extremely uncommon.
I remember watching one anime where a character with a VA I was already familiar with had an Australian accent. I thought it was a curious choice on the director(s)' part, considering every other character in the anime had the "default" LA accent, and the anime takes place in Japan. I was surprised to learn that the Australian accent was, in fact, the VA's natural way of speaking! None of the other characters I knew of performed by him even hinted at it.
The Comments on WuWa Accents
The main thing that spurred this post are the number of people I've seen who remark that accents in WuWa's English dub are "confusing", "weird" or even "insane."
Again, I don't think most people are intentionally being xenophobic--they're simply coming from an uninformed position within the USA English dubbing "bubble" I described above. But it is important to question our reaction to these accents and ask ourselves why we consider them confusing or even worth commenting on.
Why do WuWa characters have accents in the first place?
The company that handles Wuwa's English dub, in contrast to the majority of dubs in these categories, is based in the UK and is therefore outside the US cultural bubble that affects so many other anime and game titles.
Contrary to how we're used to accents being presented in US-based dubbing, it seems that that many of the VAs perform in accents they either speak naturally, or have authentic lived experience with. A couple of salient examples:
Zani's English VA, according to her Instagram, is Greek-American and currently lives in London.
Augusta's English VA, according to her Wikipedia page, is British and studied at a French school.
In other words, treating their accents as "confusing" or faulting them for being "unidentifiable" is not only uninformed, it's full-on insulting to the genuine experiences of not only the VAs who are lending their talent, but anyone in real life who might sound like them.
I understand the desire for consistency, but we as fans really need to look at why we expect that. Is it genuinely "better" somehow, or is it just what we're comfortable with? In a world full of fantastical worldbuilding, why is it the accents we get hung up on? And what is leading us to criticize characters such as Augusta, Buling and Qiuyuan, and not characters with more "stereotypical" English accents such as Iuno or Lupa?
I've also never heard a single comment about the American accents thrown in among the many European ones, which is pretty telling of where, geographically and culturally, these comments are coming from...
Could the accents be a voice direction choice? If so, why are we even talking about native accents?
From what I've heard, in addition to molding a title's cast into a uniform accent, voice directors sometimes direct VAs to alter or exaggerate parts of their accent to match their concept of a character. Indeed, this could be happening in WuWa. Without speaking with the directors and VAs directly, it's impossible to know how much of WuWa's dub is affected by this. If we're talking about the impact of voice direction on dubs in anime and video games, I think the discussion needs to be focused very carefully on voice direction itself, and needs to make an effort to avoid catching the VAs' lived experiences (and those of real people) in the crossfire.
Closing Thoughts
It's no obscure fact that fans, especially in recent years, are clamoring for more diversity and minority experiences to be featured. So, why are we so critical when diversity does happen? Why does it have to match our exact expectations in order to be worth exploring? Even more so, especially if we want to to strive for these values outside fandom contexts, I think it's important to continue to question why we have those expectations in the first place.
I think the diversity of accents in WuWa should be celebrated, especially considering Jinzhou is canonically said to be a city of immigrants. I think we should shine positive light on the fact that the voice directing is making a point of choosing VAs with authentic experience in the IRL countries the fictional ones are based on, instead of asking for performers to fake an accent for the sake of a caricature. I think, contrary to a lot of these complaints, having a rich variety of accents can make a title more immersive, if we can spend a few moments to release ourselves from the expectations around accents that an overwhelming portion of English anime and game dubbing has artificially set up for us.
I'm gonna preface this with, I'm not caught up on the Denia installments on Wuwa's story, so I'm going based on snippets and overarching themes here. I could be missing a big chunk of context (if so, please let me know). That said—
re: this whole theme of being a creation and having a heart...
Where was this energy for Avidius?!
Rover's being so kind to Denia because she's a puppet who questions the nature of her existence as a fabricated being. And coming up with these anime-worthy motivational speeches.
Avidius? Rover and Galbrena were SO quick to dismiss him after the fact with "oh he wasn't real." Where's the respect for *his* fabricated existence?? Was it merely that the timing of his arc was *during* the rising action and not *after?* idk man, I think he deserved better from Wuwa's themes AND protagonist.
Okay. Now that it's been a week or so since I played it and I've processed a bit more (because oh man did it ruin my day when I first played through it), I feel more ready to write about this scene.
(content warnings: mental health, suicide, references of drug use)
WuWa intertwines several stories of exploitation of power and talents--some overtly, others subtly--and I'm picking this one because it's real to me. I lived through it. I survived it.
Students falling off the tightrope amidst pressure from an elite institution that exist specifically to channel and exploit their talents doesn't just occur in the fictional setting of a futuristic technical college in a game about celestial worlds. It's how elite colleges and universities here in the US function.
"Gifted" kids who get good grades, or at least who have notable skills in a particular subject, are told how bright their futures are because of their ~talent~. Prestigious colleges lure in adolescents (and their parents and guardians who will likely be paying tuition) with promises that they are the avenue to the adolescents' future.
Just being accepted into one of these institutions isn't enough. You're told you have to keep succeeding at this level. It's not statistically possible for everyone to be "the best." But, your guardians tell you, you're special.
Academic life is loaded as full as possible with rigorous courses. My first year of college, I took three main classes, each 8am to 5pm one day a week with minimum 10 hours of homework. Students juggle what's effectively a 60+ hour work week while shouldering life obligations, finances, and the expectations of their family, their peers, and the relentless messaging institution they're immersed in.
All of this, centered on a narrow tightrope. Students do what they must to cope, to stay on balance. And everything around you tells you that you must walk it.
Leaving isn't an option. In my case, I recognized the impact on my mental health and told my parents, who were paying my tuition, that I was planning to transfer out. Their reply was that if I stopped, they would discontinue all financial support--I could either pay the remaining ~$60k tuition at another institution myself, or leave entirely and pick up the pieces by myself with no degree and $20k in debt.
So, the only way out is through. Right...?
Every single year I attended college, an email would go out to all the students and staff celebrating the life of a student who had died--not explicitly stated, but also not difficult to infer--either by a drug overdose or by suicide.
My teachers and classmates would cry, express their sorrow, and tell students to do their best. It would harrow the community for a week or so.
And then, nothing would change.
It would happen again the next year. (Maybe even the next semester. Some years, this happened more than once.) The same acknowledgment, and then the same sweeping under the rug. Over and over, nothing would change.
In this scene in Wuwa, the framing of the rabbits under a spotlight, in a pedestal, and then surrounded in mourning, is striking. It's impactful enough as a story--made even worse by the fact that I know it's real.
Someone who didn't know much of anything about my college asked upon hearing the RISD name: "Isn't that the one where a student dies every year?"
Something needs to change.
I don't know how, but... it does.
Here's some good reading for the real-life stories of students who go through this same struggle (minus the TDs and cool weapons and pocket dimensions):
A multimedia exposé of the ongoing mental health crisis and suicide in the Ivy League schools by Christine Forbes.
And in case anyone's curious? I've spent the last 6 years of my life in a position that doesn't even require a college degree, and it pays better than the vast majority of jobs to which my degree claimed it would lead me.
What these institutions tell you about your future is propaganda. For most people, it's a lie.
*deep breath* Anyway. That made me mad, so I'm gonna disappear from Tumblr again for a bit.
idk if anyone is going to see it, since it's Sunday. It would be nice if someone did and felt seen, but... social media visibility (or lack thereof) is what it is.
No one is infallible. I fell for the framing of the anti-horoscope post at first, too. But please don't go around disrespecting or correcting people for not conforming to your particular idea of objective reality.
